Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to vaporizing devices. More particularly the present invention relates to a device to capture and store components of a vapor vaporized from a vaporizing material by a vaporizing device.
Description of Related Art
The therapeutic activity of plant medicines is attributed to the active constituents which they contain. In some cases the intrinsic activity of natural products has been linked to specific chemical species, but in other cases the activity of the plant medicine is considered to be due to a combination of constituents acting in concert. In most plant materials the active constituent is present in varying proportions.
Methods of extraction which have been used to separate components of plant materials and to produce enriched extracts include maceration, decoction, and extraction with aqueous and non-aqueous solvents, and distillation.
Maceration (also known as simple maceration) is defined as the extraction of a drug in a solvent with daily shaking or stirring at room temperature. After a defined period the spent, solid material is separated from the solution (macerate). Variation on the method includes agitation of the macerate and the use of temperatures up to approximately 50 degrees C. The method was formerly used for the preparation of tinctures and extracts from low-density plant material medical, using various strengths of ethanol as the extraction solvent.
Decoction has been used since antiquity for the preparation of traditional medicines. In traditional Chinese medicine it is customary to place the quantity of herbs required for one day's treatment into a vessel to which hot or boiling water is added. The vessel is then raised to boiling point and allowed to simmer for a period of time. The decoction so produced is allowed to cool, separated from solid particles, and the decoction is used as the dosage form for oral administration.
A wide range of processes based on the use of non-aqueous or aqueous solvents to extract the constituents from plants have been used in the prior art. The solvents employed may be miscible with water or water immiscible and vary in solvent power.
Extraction with supercritical fluid CO2 has been used to remove active constituents from foods such as caffeine from coffee beans, and humulene and other flavors from hops, for example.
Distillation and sublimation have been used to separate components of plant medicines which have boiling points at or around the temperature at which water boils at atmospheric pressure (100 degrees C.). Separation by distillation is a physical process widely used in the preparation of essential oils.
However, all of these processes have a number of shortcomings, particularly for a small scale process. Namely, the above processes are difficult to control, time consuming, and work intensive. Further, in many of these processes the acquired extract is in a solution or material that must again be processed, or the compound captured often fouls the solution or material it is in.
Therefore, what is needed is a device that may effectively capture volatile components from a vaporizing material such as plant material. Further what is needed is a device that may be easily used at home-scale sizes and industrial-scale applications.